Our first Christmas in KY.  I have had a little bit of a time adjusting, especially after being robbed of many of my "sentimental objects" shortly after moving here.  I have always used my mom's reminder to hold everything I possess in an open hand to the Lord, but there is a grieving process to go through when you have had losses. 
For about five to six years the Lord has taken us down a path of losses.  Beginning with the ash spill that devastated the Swan Pond community and ended in our leaving that pastorate, we have lost parents, we lost a dear pastor's wife while she was in our home, we have moved from a church and pastor we loved dearly, we have both had loss of health, Gary's accident resulted in a loss of income and there's more that are too close to the heart to talk about. 
I honestly have felt rather "displaced" for these six years.  I have had to live my own teaching that if the Lord allows everything to be taken from you---home, family, possessions that even if you die you cannot have the most precious possession taken from you--Christ.
So, we have dug through the piles of dumped boxes in our storage unit and we have decorated our home for
Christmas.  Even Christmas has had its losses this year.  For the first time, I haven't hung a pocket calendar this year. (by husband's orders)  Each morning our children would find a treat in a numbered pocket calendar I made and hung on the wall.  Instead, he decided to give the boys each $25 for Christmas money.  I have mourned the loss of my beloved pocket calendar.
For the first time the inside of my cabinet isn't decorated.  I remember one year that I decided I wasn't going to decorate the cabinet and Alicia, who was married and gone, told me I couldn't stop doing that.  So I decorated the cabinet and have every since...till this year.  It is full of canned goods and I haven't got the room to put them any where else!  But I miss it.
I have made my huge batches of cookies and candies and they are sitting in the freezer--I don't have neighbors all around me to give them to.

But God has been good and we have had gains.  God has given us a church that reminds me of being in Parker City years ago.  Constant activity, soulwinning, new friends and a new ministry. 
Gary has joined the Wings Ministry and we are working with Brother Allen and Sister Dema.  When we left Swan Pond we lost having them in our church and it is so good to be serving together in the same church again.
It is so good to be in a church where there is something to do for the Lord every day of the week if that is your heart's desire.  It is so good to be in a church where John has constant activity with the teens and other ministries.

God has given us a home to live in for now.  Otis and Martha Blankenship graciously have allowed us to rent their home while they are in Michigan and it is such a blessing in our lives at this point.
We have once again seen the Lord pour out His blessings on us and meet our needs just when they are needed.  I could list prayer after prayer that the Lord answered at the precise time that we had the need.
It has been fun decorating the house for Christmas.  I started out slow, but the lights always win me over to filling the house with Christmas. 
So, here we are at our first Christmas in Kentucky.  Walking through the house today and seeing all the lovely lights--I decided to put pictures of it up and to remind myself that it is a lovely place to be at Christmas! 

A Plea for the Broken-hearted mother who's been forsaken...

If I could do it again:
1.  I would always, always make my mother know she was honored and make her feel honored.
2.  I would realize each time I went to say or show a lack of respect I was "sowing" for my future.
3.  I would never have missed a single opportunity to give her gifts and tell her I loved her.
4.  I would realize she was the "guide" of my youth and never have forsaken, ignored or abandoned her guidance.
5.  I would have stayed at her side even more through her illness with never anything but empathy and a helping hand.
6.  I would have paid attention to her every caution, instead of thinking she was a worry-wart and thinking I was smarter than her.
7.  I would have never taken on any practice that would have disappointed her or grieved her spirit.

8.  I would have risen up and called her "blessed" by a holier, closer walk with the Lord.
9.  I would have ditched my superior, know-it-all attitude I had so many times when she tried to caution me.
10.  I would have said, "I'm sorry, you were right and I was wrong." even more than I did.
11. I would have thought more of what I could do for her than what she was doing for us.
12.  I would have lived 100% in a way that she knew she need never fear being abandoned by me because of my love of the world over my love for her.


  If you profess Christ, please don't ever let her shed a tear over you "forsaking" and "abandoning" her with your lifestyle or words.  Don't forsake the law of your mother.  (Proverbs 6:20) because God says it is a light.  To do so is to choose darkness.  My mother always seemed perfect to me, and I always respected her position and role, but I wish I had done it  with more intensity than I did.  The little clips of time I chose to be carnal I know I hurt her and hurt her name.  I wish I could go back and do it right, but all I could do was ask her forgiveness and never repeat it.  If you are out in the world and breaking your mama's heart--leaving her forsaken and abandoned and heartbroken this Mother's Day, I beg of you give her the best gift possible--a repentant child.

His Wonderful Works....Part 5



 It's been a long and wonderful summer for us here at the Neals.  I love my front porch, I love the more relaxed mood, and I love projects in the summer.  So between my projects and my porch there have been no posts since June! :)
   These posts are a walk down memory lane for me.  I am doing them at the request of my husband.  He felt it would be good for me to meditate on all the wonderful blessings the Lord has given us.  He's right--it is good to remember the kindness, patience and goodness of the Lord as my Shepherd, my Teacher, and my Friend. (and so much more)
  In my last post I told how the Lord gave us our second child-Alicia.  What lessons He had for me in two little girls.  They looked different and their personalities were different.  Niki started talking in phrases at 15 months.  Alicia took her time in talking, but was pulling up in her crib early on.  She walked first, and her motor skills were advanced.  My mother had often told me not to expect the same thing from my second child as my first one, but now I was learning firsthand how different two children could be.
  Alicia's curious nature was always there.  She was always discovering something new.  Niki, on the other hand, would be walking behind me asking hundreds of adult-type questions.  I was absolutely enthralled with being the mother of two unique little girls.
  At this time I had been growing spiritually and began reading biographies of great Christians.  As a little girl my mother often read us stories of great Christians.  I remember Hudson Taylor, Johanna Veenstra, Mary Slessor and Nate Saint as some of the heroes that we had as children.  The sweet memories of these stories motivated me to start reading on my own. 
   I began to realize how important a prayer life was, how important reading my Bible daily was.  Part of it was because I had become a woman and the other part was realizing how important being a mother was.
  We lived in a small gray house that the church owned that sat in a lot adjacent to the church.  What sweet memories I have there!  I was learning the art of being a homemaker.  The floors were old grey tile, but I polished them with Future wax to make them shine.  I  spent time looking at  cookbooks so I could have a hot meal waiting for my husband when he got home from work.  I enjoyed decorating with items that had been given to me.
  I rehearsed in my mind things that my grandmother and mother had said while we were just chatting that now made sense.  My grandma had told me to always make sure my beds were made, my dishes done and my living room was tidy.  That way if company came I wouldn't be ashamed of my house.
  So what was the wonderful work in this time of my life?  Well, the Lord was just beginning the lesson of contentment in my life.  (And I had to repeat this grade for several years!)
  I had been given the gift of parents who had their value system straight.  Possessions had no hold on them.  My mother had told me she remembered reading a biography of Isobel Kuhn who said to always hold your possessions on an open hand to the Lord and to "never curl up your fingers on them."
  My parents were in full-time ministry most of their adult lives and they always had to pinch the pennies.  But you never sensed they resented it or felt they'd missed something.  They had found something bigger than having the right car, or the right house, or even the right clothes.  They had found how to have food and raiment and be very content. 
   Now we were living life on a tight budget with two little girls that needed clothes, doctor visits and food on the table.  I had a choice to make--resent it and fight it or learn what my parents had learned.  That lesson was how to depend on God and be thankful for what He provided.  I began to pray specifically for things like winter coats, shoes and grocery money for the week. 
  At the same time I was so very happy.  I had a husband who loved me, made me feel cherished, found joy in being the breadwinner and caring for his little family.  Our marriage was a happy one.  We had two healthy little girls.   I found that I could get more joy out of bathing a baby, or sitting under a shade tree and watching them play then in going shopping.  I got more joy out of fixing a new recipe than having a new outfit.  I found out that sitting on the porch with my husband after the girls had gone to bed and listening to the night sounds gave me more joy than going on the town for a night. 
  Although I didn't realize it this wasn't just my personality--it was a gift from the Lord.  I also didn't realize that this is the by-product that comes with carrying out your life in agreement with how the Lord designed the home and family.  When we do it His way it produces a deep contentment and joy in our hearts.
  How thankful I am now for the parents, the grandparents, the church and the husband God had so graciously given me.  All these had played a part in my being able to live in a tiny house with a tiny budget with very used furniture and hand-me-down clothes feeling like I was one of the richest women that ever lived!
  Today I look back with such gratefulness for all the wonderful blessings in my life that I took for granted then.  How I thank the Lord for the memories of the smallest beginnings in my life of I Timothy 6:6--"But godliness with contentment is great gain."
 
  

Just a little news note...

  Because I don't know how to add buttons etc. on my blog I'll just use a post to tell about this neat giveaway.  My dear cousins have introduced me to the wonderful world of essential oils and Camp Wander has this wonderful giveaway!  Give it a try and if nothing else begin to educate yourself!
http://campwander.blogspot.com/2013/06/an-eo-life-giveaway-from-camp-wander.html

His Wonderful Works- Part 4-



  I ended part three of His Wonderful Works giving my personal testimony of how the Lord taught me about being separated from the world unto Him in the issue of my clothing.
  This took place during my early years of marriage and when we had our first daughter Niki. 
  Well, after about a year of being a mother of a beautiful baby girl I began to long for more children.  I knew that our Niki was a miracle and my doctor had told me as much when he said that I needed to be thankful for the one child that we had.  But yet in my heart was such a longing for more children.
    I would hear women talk when they found out they were pregnant as if they had just been given a death sentence.  They talked of how much harder it was going to make life, how could it happen "now", and other terrible things about what God said was a blessing--something to be desired, something that should make a man with a "quiver full" happy. (Ps. 127:5)
   This troubled me, and I would ask the Lord why He couldn't give us children when we wanted them and we would dedicate our lives to raising them for Him.  I didn't question His wisdom, but I did question why He didn't allow us to have children to raise for Him.
  This became such a spiritual burden for me that it consumed much of my prayer life.  I thought of it constantly and prayed often about it.  I went to the doctor and the matter of medication to cause ovulation was brought up again.  This time if I remember correctly we bought the medicine but I didn't take it.
  Once again I was brought back to prayer and fasting.  Over the years when I have a serious spiritual problem my mind goes to Revelation 4's description of the throne in heaven when John has it shown to him. 
  There is the throne set in heaven and the One sitting on it is like to a jasper and a sardine stone.  There is a rainbow round about the throne that is in sight like unto an emerald.  Out of the throne proceeds lightnings and thunderings and voices.  Before the throne is like unto a sea of glass out of crystal.  What a picture! 
  In chapter 5 the four and twenty elders fall down before the lamb having vials full of, which are the prayers of saints.
  The throne of mercy in Hebrews is a place we are allowed to come boldly to because of our high priest being there for us, and obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-17)  The place where our prayers are put in vials as a beautiful perfume.  I often wonder if each person's prayers have a distinctive aroma.
  And that's where I go--to this wonderful place to cling to the mercy seat for help.  My prayers have often been answered very quickly--that is in my early Christian days.  In my later years He has had to teach me to "wait on Him", but that's another part to these "wonderful works" chapters.
   One day my pastor's wife and I was out visiting a lady in our church who was very ill.  At some point and time in her illness she felt prompted to have the elders come and anoint her with oil, and she got well.  I don't remember if our visit was before or after her getting well, but I assume it was before because she was homebound and we were visiting her.
  We were pulling out of her driveway to go home when I knew.  That's the only way I can describe it.  I knew that the Lord had answered my prayer and we were going to have more children!  It wasn't a great feeling of joy or relief.  It wasn't the "I believe, help mine unbelief" that I experienced with Niki.  It was just that I knew.
  I don't even remember if I told Gary or not.  In July I was reasonably certain I was pregnant.  I went to the doctor.  He told me I wasn't pregnant.  I told him I would be back in September and I would be pregnant.  The doctor's nurse gave a nervous little giggle as if she didn't know if I was being funny or if I was a crazy person.  My doctor said, "Don't laugh."
  I went home and made it a matter of serious prayer.  I went back in September and the rest of the story is history.  We have our precious Alicia Rue--my second miraculous answer to prayer for children.
  When I was pregnant for our children Gary and I would pray together (at his suggestion and desire) that if our children weren't going to be saved that we would ask the Lord to take them back before they reached the age of accountability.  That's a scary prayer, but I always believed I could deal with going to the casket of an innocent child and know it was safe in the arms of Jesus with much more grace than looking down at a teen or young adult knowing that it was eternally in hell, and so I prayed that prayer.
  Alicia gave me several scares in the womb.  She was a very quiet baby and many times would go right up to the hour when I was supposed to call the doctor's office and report the absence of movement before she'd move.  I would be in tears, emotionally a mess and then she'd stir.
  I finally learned two ways to get her to move.  Knitting would always irritate her with the clattering needles and she'd stir as if irritated.  The other way was to sit a cup of hot coffee on my tummy!
  When she was born she was just as quiet a baby out of the womb as in the womb.  We actually wondered if she'd ever talk or socialize. (Can you believe that if you know our Alicia?)
  One hot summer night I heard her gurgling in her crib and when I grabbed her from the crib she was choking on liquid from her stomach.  When I'd hold her straight up she'd breathe and when I'd lay her back in my arms she would begin to turn purple again.
  We rushed her to the hospital but they found nothing and by morning she was fine.  She had a large circle of clear stomach acid (?) on the crib sheet when we left for the hospital.  When we came home the sheet was dry, there was no odor on the sheet.  If I hadn't heard her gurgling we would have found our quiet little daughter dead in her crib that morning.
  At that point I didn't give my children to the Lord but I did realize that if He didn't enable us to raise them and He didn't wake us up when they needed us, we didn't have any hope as parents.  I realized that His works not only involved giving us children to raise for Him, but giving us grace, wisdom, mother's intuition, etc. to raise them for Him. (I had felt we needed to keep her in a cradle in our room instead of moving her to Niki's bedroom...mother's intuition?)
  I couldn't do it--it required an involved and gracious heavenly Father to raise children.
  So my wonderful works in this chapter of His wonderful works  in my life?
1.)   I learned that just because He carries out His works one way the first time doesn't mean He will do it the same way the next time. (As you'll see in my stories of Nathan's birth, Nevin's birth, Asher's birth, Cierra and John's birth)
  Each on of their stories are completely different!  Nate was a surprise, Nevin came when I was fasting and praying for a friend to conceive, Asher was our first adopted baby, and Cierra and John came via a radio program! :)
   My second lesson on His wonderful works in my life was that not only did I have to let the Lord do all the work in giving us children, but I had to let Him do the work in giving me the strength, ability, and wisdom to be a good mother in every area. 
  Did I learn these lessons like a huge light bulb came on and I never forgot it?  No, that's not how it worked at all.  Even in writing this, I see where I must be reminded time after time after time that these things are true--and even though I fail and deny Him so many times--He always abideth faithful to me.
  So, after writing this I say to my Beloved once again,  "Remind me again and again, dearest Lord, of those things that I so easily forget.  I look to you to be faithful to guide me into all truth and to carry out the wonderful works in me for my children and grandchildren to see that You might get all the glory and praise.  In Jesus name, Amen."
 
 
  
 
  
  

His Wonderful Work of Separation...part 3



 Here goes "His Wonderful Works in My Life"--part 3.   In part 2 I told how God miraculously gave us our first child, Nicole Anthea. 
  While I was carrying Niki,  Gary and I both were growing spiritually.  We had decided together that we were going to be active Christians and that we weren't going to do it halfheartedly, but instead we going to be "all the way" Christians.  No fence riding for us.
  We talked about the Lord, prayed, and we attended our church faithfully.  As a result, the Lord began to work in our hearts in a way we had neither one experienced before.
  Now at this point I need to digress a little into my earlier life to explain some of the things the Lord needed to work in my heart over.
  My dad got saved when I was an infant.  It took him until I was five or so to get into a good church and start really growing himself.  He told how when reading his Bible he knew something was wrong in the churches he was choosing, so He asked the Lord to show him the truth.  Shortly after praying that prayer two men knocked on my parents door from an independent Baptist church.  Dad said the first Sunday there he knew they'd found a church that was preaching and teaching what he had been learning from reading his Bible.  The rest is history--my dad became an independent, Bible believing Baptist and he began to grow rapidly.
  We moved back to Indiana when I was in fourth grade.  The Lord led my dad to start a church in Parker City, IN a short time after we moved back there.  My dad had gone to one year of Bible college when we lived in Kansas, but it was rather liberal.  He didn't get under sound Bible teaching until he got under the Pastor Byers Storey of Muncie, Indiana.  (Temple Baptist Church)
  When dad started the church in Parker he was still learning some of the basics in doctrine.  He said it concerned Brother Storey rather he was ready for pastoring.  But dad stuck by the stuff and grew.
  We lived in the country north of Parker when he started the church and dad still hadn't developed many personal standards for us as a family.  When I was right at the beginning of my teenage years dad realized there should be dress standards and told us girls that we weren't to wear pants any more.
  Now, I was in the time of my life where I was questioning everything and I wasn't doing it from a spiritual mindset!  So, I decided dad had developed this new conviction as a result of our becoming teens and because we were moving to town where we would be more visible.
  I did what my dad said, but I didn't make a heart's decision for myself concerning what I wore.  I had outward obedience, but I never got before the Lord on my own and with a sincere heart asked Him to show me what He said about my clothing.  To be honest, I didn't want to know because I wanted to make that decision for myself!
  At school it was noticed.  No one really made fun of me, but comments would be made.   I would be asked why we never wore pants.  This was the late 60's and early 70's and pants and miniskirts were the rage, so when you wore a dress every day it was noticed!
  When I went to work out of high school as a pharmacy tech I also noticed that the men were always the ones to comment, and the comments were always about my looking like a lady.  They were never belittling, more astonishment or gratefulness for a "lady who looked like a lady".  I did notice this and it went into my mental library of facts.
  However, this was during the time I was completely backslidden as a teen and I had made up my mind that when I got out of the home I did not share my dad's conviction and I would wear pants.
  When I married that's exactly what I did.  Not all the time, but much of the time.  I cannot bear to think of how this must have hurt my precious parents.  I've asked them to forgive me for the pain my backslidden years brought to them, and I asked them for forgiveness for how I hurt them with my foolish choices.  Something I'm very grateful for is that I got right with the Lord and had an opportunity to ask their forgiveness while they were still alive.   I'm also grateful for their patience and forgiveness.
  I got right with the Lord at about the age of 18, but some of the wrong decisions were still in my life--what I wore was one of those things.  When I was pregnant for Niki the Holy Spirit began to deal with my heart about being a testimony no matter where I was.
  I would sit in the waiting room at the doctor's office and want to look like a Christian.  I wanted people to know I was a Christian just by looking at my countenance, (Acts 4:13-"they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.")  I knew that would only come by spending time with Him, but I also knew there should be outward evidence of being "separated unto Him from the world".
  So, where at the beginning I would pick up the Gideon Bible and read it while in the waiting room at the middle and end of my pregnancy I would wear a dress or skirt, because that made me the only one in the waiting room dressed in a way that made people take note that I was a Christian.
*I knew this was true because of how many times my dress under my dad's leadership caused people to ask where I went to church!
  I cannot speak for anyone else, but I can say without any question that my choice of clothing had a direct parallel to my spiritual closeness to the Lord.  When I was in rebellion I chose clothing that made me be identified with the world and its latest fad.  When I grew close to the Lord all I wanted was to be sure that what I wore brought Him honor and glory and set me apart from the world and identified me with Him.
  I still wore pants at home, wore them on vacation or on other occasions that I felt warranted wearing them, but as I became more and more sensitive to what pleased the Lord I became more and more uncomfortable with clothing that was immodest or "pertained to a man".
  We had had a part in some young Christians' salvation and I also became concerned that we were good role models in their lives.  All of this, along with a sincere desire to do nothing that would put a wall between the Lord and I's fellowship caused me to get into my Bible truly seeking what the Lord's heart was in this area.
  I still held on to some of my excuses--the major excuse was that my husband liked them on me.
I had a fear that if I only wore dresses he might lose his interest in me, or think I was "dowdy" in my clothing choices.
  Gary and I began to have more and more preachers over to the house during revivals, we were both spending more and more time in our Bibles and prayer, and I was getting more and more concerned with being right with the Lord and doing nothing that would cause someone to stumble.
  God knows just what work to carry out in our lives to get us to make that final step that He wants when we are sincerely seeking to please and obey Him.
  We had gone to town to see Gary's mother.  We were taking Niki  and were very proud to show her off to Gary's mom and aunt and uncle.  I had on a pair of jeans and a pretty new top Gary had bought me.
  An opportunity came up for me to witness to Gary's mother.  She was lost and we were both very burdened for her salvation.  When I began to witness she stopped me.  She told me that I didn't have anything to say to her as long as I wore those pants.  She saw the way *____________ (Gary's uncle) looked at me.  I was crushed and speechless.
  When we got home I told Gary that his mother might go to hell, but it would be her own choice, and it most certainly wouldn't be over stumbling over my clothing!  That was the "work of the Lord" that took dressing immodestly or dressing in what pertained to a man from my heart.
  I have never questioned what God meant by any portion of scripture on my clothing--it's not a matter up for debate to me.  I KNOW what He believes about it--He revealed it to my heart by His wonderful works. He did it in a way that I will never question what He means by the various verses I hear debated on a regular basis.
  I know that no matter what the Lord is wanting to teach us He has to make it personal, and He has to do the speaking and the working.   My obedience to my dad was outward--but dead.  I should have accepted the truth simply because I'm told to obey my parents, but I didn't.  However, when the time came that I sincerely was seeking and wanting to obey God and His Word--He made it real and He made it personal.
  That was the first real time I can remember that the Lord did a work in my heart that was precious--and very painful.  However, I am so glad He did. 
  Gary's mother did get saved some years later.  His dad and his mother both gave testimony at their salvation that watching us for years live out a Christianity consistently and with all our hearts is part of what brought them to Christ.
  What a small price separation from this world and its mindset is in the Christian life, and yet it is one of the devil's most effective tools. 
  This was just the first spiritual work in my life that I remember being painful and shameful.  There have been many since then, but I embrace them now as an act of love on the Lord's part and I'm thankful that they are proof that I am His.  (Hebrews 12:6-"For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.")
  I am writing all this down for "the generation to come".  I have felt prompted to do this, so that my children and grandchildren will know what the Lord's works in my life have been.  I don't want them to wait and find them in my journals after I am gone, but know them now!
"We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done."-Psalm 78:4
  This won't be all of them, they are too many to tell, but the highlights.  However, I get excited just looking back at how good He has been to me.  A true loving Heavenly Father who has done what was best for me, not what I wanted. 
  Until the next chapter!...
 
 
 



  
  
 
  
 

His Wonderful Works in My Life--Part 2

 

 My last post was about how the Lord made me aware of His presence and my need of salvation.  That's the most wonderful thing He will ever do, but it's just the beginning!
  My childhood years were sweet.  Because of the healthy home life I had I pretty much just believed what was preached and taught to us.  When I was around 14 I began wondering how much I truly believed because it was true and how much I believed because I had been told it was true.  I've heard many, many others say they went through this.  I think it is a necessary part of growing up to adulthood if you're going to stand alone with the Lord.  We tend to depend on others, but the Lord wants that dependence to be replaced by our trusting Him and His word alone--no one else holding us up.
  A bunch of teen boys started coming to our church when I was 16 and among them was the one who was going to be the "love of my life".  He was saved shortly after beginning to attend our church.   He was my best friend first, then he became my sweetheart.  I highly recommend that--that you like each other before you love each other! 
   We were married at a young age.  The Lord was very real to me, but I was a shallow Christian, still riding on my parents coat tails.  I knew the Lord was my Saviour, knew He would provide your needs, but I had never made a full surrender to His authority in my life.  I had actually prayed a prayer at one point asking the Lord to give me a husband that was a strong authority that could handle me, because I knew I had a strong will.  God heard and answered that prayer!
  Even as a young girl I had some very strong convictions.  My dad didn't know it but when he would counsel so many of the young Christians he had an extra listener in the other room. After listening to him counsel,  I watched what happened to those people and their lives.  My dad would take the word of God and give them the truth.  When they walked out and obeyed it, things went the right direction with their life.  When they ignored the truth, their lives continued to spiral downward and fall apart.
 My dad had given me correspondence that had gone back and forth between one of the preachers on "Back to the Bible Broadcast" and a young woman who was dating a lost boy.  Oh, the sorrow she brought into her own life with the philosophy that she could change this young man.  She told how he loved her and was going to go to church with her after they married.  Instead of her willful ways bringing joy, she lived a life with a drunken , lazy brute.  After reading those letters I knew I would never date or marry a man who wasn't saved.  I also determined he couldn't just say he was saved, he had to behave as if he were saved!  Thank you, dear dad for giving me those letters!
  I had read my Bible and come to the conclusion that dancing was not for saved people, that I needed to stand with the Lord when the Bible was being attacked, and that I couldn't/wouldn't listen to the world's music or read their books that mocked the Lord.
  I attended a public school and I  took a firm stand in some situations where it took God's grace to do it, yet, there were many, many unsurrendered areas.  Some because of ignorance and some because of willfulness.
   Shortly after our marriage God began dealing with me.  I remember very clearly in our small apartment when He dealt with me about being all the way in or out with my Christian life.  I knelt by my bed and told the Lord I was going to be all the way in--not a fence straddler.
  He also began dealing with me about how much time I was spending with Him and how much time I spent reading books or other entertainment.  That took a while, in the end I promised Him I wouldn't read books for entertainment before I had read my Bible.
   When the Lord dealt with me it would be through my Bible reading,  through preaching or through someone else's testimony.  When I would surrender my will to His there would be such joy and peace within. I began to notice the pattern of how He worked with me to repent and what joy I had when I repented.   I  realize God in His goodness was preparing me for the life that was ahead of me.  He is always so good.
  I married with a heart's desire for a large family.  I had read several books by a preacher that had really impressed upon me that children were a blessing and we should let God give us blessings-not try to prevent Him from blessing us.  (today's mindset)
   After marriage I went back to my gynecologist for problems I had had before marriage.  He told me that I was young, but the problem I had made it to where there wasn't much chance for pregnancy.  He told me the odds and I don't remember them, but it wasn't good.
  This literally broke my heart.  For the first time since salvation I had a problem that was really big.  I did what I watched my parents do--go to  the word of God.  I studied the women who had lived with barrenness and Hannah especially gripped my heart. 
  In the end, I wrote a letter to the Lord.  It's buried somewhere in the many, many boxes we have in storage and if I find it I'm going to take it out and put it in a special notebook.  I told the Lord I believed and was asking him for a baby April of 1975.
  Back to the doctor in September because I thought I was pregnant.  My health problem was amenorrhea, or absence of menses.  I would go up to 8 months, so the only way to know I was pregnant was see the doctor and have a pregnancy test. 
  He examined me and told me that by examination he could tell me that I wasn't pregnant.  I told him that I knew I was--I had fasted and prayed over it!  He said, "Well, we'll run a pregnancy test just to prove it to you, but you're not pregnant."
  I remember going in a little bathroom next to the examination room, getting down by the toilet and saying, "I believe, help Thou mine unbelief!" over and over.  I got dressed and got ready to go to his office and talk to him.
  Before I got out the door, the doctor came walking back in with his wife right behind him.  They were Christians who attended a church in a town near to us.  He said, "You're not going to believe this!"  (His wife's standing behind him smiling from ear to ear.)  "It's positive, you're pregnant!"
  I had prayed so many times about this, I had asked the Lord to take a baby from the womb of a woman who was going to abort it and give it to us to raise--but the news was almost overwhelming--with joy!!  That baby is our Nicole Anthea.  She was born April 30th, 1975!   I've told her she might actually be someone else's and taken from another woman and given to us. 
  Now I had a truly mighty visible work in my life that only He could get the glory for.  As young as we were the doctor had even suggested I take a medication that would help me ovulate, but we had decided to wait till we were in our mid-twenties to try that.  I knew that God Himself had intervened and given us a baby.
  I felt so responsible to bring this life up for him, and it motivated me to get even more serious about
my spiritual life.  God's goodness truly leads us to repentance. 
  This was just the beginning of many might works in my life.  And so, there will have to be more parts to this!  Stay tuned for part 3....

  

  



Wow, I haven't written since August!  Part of that is because of trying to keep priorities in line and the other part is poor health.  I have been fighting a losing battle with some health issues for five years and they've had the upper hand for several months now. 
   There've been a whole lot of reshuffling of our lifestyle here at the Neal household since I've been ill.  The kids now have to fix their own breakfast--something that has never taken place in this home.  The children are doing almost all of the laundry, and they've taken over any task that requires bending or twisting.  They've done fine with it, their mother has had a harder time letting go.  But when I think on "these things"-"whatsoever things  are true , whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue , and  if there be any  praise , think on these things." then I see to every dark side of this there is a silver lining in the clouds.
   Tonight is a sleepless night and I've been thinking on the many wonderful works the Lord has carried out in my life.  I decided to declare these works publicly to bring him all the honor and praise He so rightly deserves! "We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done." (Ps. 78:4)
  The first work the Lord did in my life was making me aware of His presence.  When I was a very small girl I began to be aware of my sin, of heaven and hell and of my need for a Saviour.  We lived in a house next to the Christian school we attended.  In that house I have such sweet memories. 
  I remember my mother sitting on a little footstool in front of the radio listening to Back to the Bible, Chapel of the Air.  Oliver B. Greene, and Lester Roloff. 
   I remember my dad telling us we needed to pray for milk and having us kneel by the couch and pray.  We each prayed and then my dad prayed, and prayed and prayed....and then there was a knock on the door!  There stood our school principal with a gallon of milk under each arm.  He told us his parents' cows had given too much milk that day--could we use a couple of gallons?  I stood there thinking, "God is real!  He heard my dad pray and He is real!"
  I remember my dad resting in the window seat reading a newspaper.  I asked him if he would pray with me that I wouldn't go to hell.  He laid the paper down and prayed with me.  I didn't get saved that day, but I was waking up to my need for salvation.  How thankful I am for parents who not only professed to know the Lord, but lived a life that made a little girl have childlike faith in the truths of the word of God.
  The second work was the most miraculous work--my salvation!  My dad was pastoring a small church in Kansas City, KS.  The morning I got saved he had a guest speaker, who preached on Calvary.  I could draw a picture of the Christ he portrayed that day in his message, hanging on the cross and dying for me.
  When the invitation was given I wanted to go forward, but I was afraid.  So I reached up and took my dad's hand and asked the Lord to save me and come into my heart.  Oh, what joy!  I remember telling my little Catholic friend Mark about what happened to me.  We were kneeling by his couch as I explained salvation to him and told him Jesus was knocking on his heart's door but he had to let Him come in.  His mother was standing at the kitchen sink doing dishes and listening to what I was telling Mark.  I've often wondered if that testimony bore fruit in their lives later.
  I wrote my parents a letter filled with the joy of my salvation...

From Tammy to daddy and Mommy
Jesus Jesus how I Love him!  isn't he wonderful to us.   I can't wate till he comes.  I just can not wate!  Amen! 
I thank the Lord tonight that We do not have to go and make a bomme house and be afrade and die.
Jesus is good to us.  I am glad I got saved!  I whoud be died because sinners die each day.  I was a sinner wonts.  but now I am god's child and saved with him.
Some day I will die and go to heaven to be with my heavenly father. and I will be glad.
isn't he wonderful wonderful wonderful isn't Jesus my lord wonderful sents that day on the cross that he died to save the lost isn't Jesus my Lord wonderful!  priase God.
for God so loved the world!  that he gave his only begoten son!
that houe so ever believeth in him
shoud not perish! but have ever lasting life!
I am so glad that Jesus died for me!  Because we do note have to die on the cross!  he is so good too us.  that we could stay alive.

  Some of my doctrine needed a little work, but I knew I was a sinner who had a Saviour! 
  Once again, how thankful I am that I had parents that valued my salvation above any possession the world offered.  They had us faithfully in the house of God hearing the word of God and my eternal destination became safe forever as a result of their faithfulness to the Lord and His word.
  That's chapter 1 of His faithfulness in my life...there's a whole lot more coming!

Love,

Mom



 

 

  
With the school year coming quickly toward us I needed to review why I'm doing what I'm doing.  I am going through boxes in the garage trying to clean things out (again) and I came across a box full of "early years" homeschooling.  Our values really haven't changed after over 25 years of teaching our children at home!
  If you question your ability to teach your children there is some really good reads out there.  One of my favorites is a man who lost his wife in the middle of their homeschooling.  The children have used their mother's work and taught themselves under dad's supervision.  His understanding of why we don't want our children in the public educational system is one of the mose concise I've read.

  Here's an excerpt:
 

We Need Higher Hopes

Ten years ago Laurelee and I decided to educate our children in a home school rather than a public school or a private school. The burden of this decision fell most heavily upon Laurelee who took responsibility for the substantial work that we expected this home school to require. Of special concern to us were the following facts: 1. The social and religious environment in most schools in America has deteriorated to a level of evil such that it is a threat to the spiritual, moral, and mental health of each child who is forced to participate in it. 2. The level of political and secular humanist indoctrination in American public schools has risen so high that it is very difficult for any child attending public school to emerge with an understanding of historical and religious truth. 3. Irrationalism has become the norm throughout American schools. It is therefore very difficult for children who attend those schools to learn how to think rather than to simply believe whatever propaganda is being disseminated at the moment. 4. The academic quality of most schools has deteriorated to the point that American students are literally the world's largest group of dunces. In test after test of academic abilities, American students score last in comparison with students from the other twenty or so advanced countries.
It is, of course, possible for a child to emerge from an American public school with good academic training and a good spiritual and moral outlook. With increasingly rare exceptions, however, students who achieve this do so in spite of the school rather than because of the school. The over all performance of American children who attend public schools is very poor.
Even when American public schools of the past are used as a standard, current schools are an embarrassment. Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores have deteriorated so much during recent decades that the tests themselves are now on the verge of being changed. The American educational establishment is determined to change these tests, so that continued comparisons with past performance will not be possible.
Even the SAT tests themselves are being used as tools for social engineering. "Politically Correct" questions are being asked about "socially responsible" reading passages. In some cases the student must give an answer that he knows to be false or misguided in order to please the social engineers who designed the tests.
As a result of these facts, hundreds of thousands of American families have chosen to educate their children at home. Home schooling is rapidly becoming a major force in American society and has become a significant embarrassment to the public school establishment.
Moreover, families who have chosen this path are clearly achieving some of their objectives. In particular, they are succeeding in partially isolating their children from the social and religious decay that is pervasive in American public schools. They are also strengthening their families by keeping children and parents together rather than allowing them to be physically and mentally separated by the State.

See:
http://www.robinsoncurriculum.com/view/rc/s31p54.htm

  I found the lovely thoughts below in a homeschool freebie. I printed them  and keep with my daily schedule.  They keep me grounded on what I really want for my children.  I would add above each one that my first desire is that my child truly knows Christ Jesusas their Saviour, and loves and serves Him.  Nothing else matters if that's not taken care of.  But with that said, here they are.

What a Little Girl Should Be Taught 

• To cook plain wholesome food

• To make her own clothes

• To be neat and orderly

• To care for her own room

• To learn well the art of housekeeping

• To care for her person

• To exercise a quiet reserve in the presence of boys and men

• That all cheap talk is unbecoming

• That loose jokes about “beaux” and “lovers” are improper

• That modesty is a priceless treasure, and will prove her surest

protector

• That her brothers are better escorts than most other young men

• That her mother is her best companion and counselor

• That her dress should be plain and not the chief subject of her

thoughts or conversation

• That she should wear only such styles of clothing as will cover

her person modestly

• That it is better to be useful than ornamental

• That there will be time enough to learn fancy work after she has

learned to darn stockings

• That the old rule, “A place for everything and everything in its

place,” is a good one

• That she should dress for health and comfort as well as for appearance

Home and Health © 1907, Pacific Press Publishing

What a Little Boy Should Be Taught


• To be strong and brave—a little man
• To shun evil companions
• To respect gray hairs
• To be gentle
• To be courteous
• To be prompt
• To be industrious
• To be truthful
• To be honest
• To prefer the companionship of his sisters over other girls
• To honor his father and mother
• To be temperate
• To discard profanity
• To be thoughtful and attentive
• To keep himself pure
• To be his sister’s protector
• To refuse to listen to vulgar jokes or stories
• To use common tools skillfully
• To care for his own room
• To do all kinds of housework
• To earn money and to take care of it
• To be neat and orderly in his habits and appearance
• To be self-reliant
• To be his father’s partner
Home and Health © 1907, Pacific Press Publishing

Http://homeschoolfreebies.s3.amazonaws.com/EHTPreview.pdf

 

 

“But when they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord God os Israel, and sought him, He was found of them.” (II Chron. 15:4)

Got a problem bigger than you are? While I was alone with the Lord this morning, I was thinking of the problems we have in life that just about take the wind out of our sails. The problems that make you ask "Is it worth it?" "Would someone tell me why I'm doing all thi...s?"
Then I thought of how every single problem I've had what got me through the storm that I thought would never, never pass was "the way, the truth, and the life". He got me through the darkness and into the light.
I am an IFR Christian. I know God had to order this because I am very visual, emotional and a lover of words. So God had to take away my reliance on those things (they were gods for me) and teach me to trust completely and totally on Christ. That has been a journey for me that began with severe and crippling depression in 1987.
I can say that I know, that I know, that I KNOW that He will never leave you nor forsake you. If you will fall at His feet and be a Mary, sobbing and crying and pouring out your heart, agreeing to agree with Him as he leads the way, He opens up the truth to a heart that has no power on its own to comprehend or receive it, and He is the life--He will do all the work, not part of it--ALL of it. He will give faith to a heart that is worn out with “trying to trust”, He will give light on a path that looks like its crumbling under our feet, He will give understanding to a heart that lies very still and waits to hear His voice in the midst of hundreds and thousands of babbling voices in our heads.
You can never untangle all the wires, I promise you it only gets more and more complex--like tearing a computer apart when you know nothing about them and looking at all the parts lying on your table and not even knowing where to start--that’s where you get on trying to solve your own problems.
Job is a perfect example. I believe his friends loved him, I believe they were concerned, but in the course of their “help” they kicked him, criticized him, exposed their own jealousy and personal spiritual limpness and made him more confused.
Then along came Elihu. Job had been mourning and crying for another human to care enough to reach God for him. He wanted human help when he was in spiritual, emotional and physical agony. (Job 16:21) He got that help in Job 33:6 when Elihu said, “Here I am! I am here with you formed out of clay according to your wish ready and willing to help you. Now let me get you to God--because only He can really help you.”
Then he begins to turn Job’s focus to God and His power, His life, His ability to heal, give sight, deliver and put all those mixed up, tiny, confusing pieces of Job’s life that lay like a puzzle poured on the floor all back together and make something beautiful out of it!
I don’t know your problem, but I know you have them. I don’t know what has you so overwhelmed you don’t know where to start.
I do know that if you will seek Him He will be found of thee. “And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord god of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul;” (II Chron. 15:12) It all starts with prostrating yourself before Him and confessing that you have no wisdom, no power, no strength, no faith, nothing to offer Him but a hopeless mess and you are willing to rest before Him and let Him fix it as your own Saviour by the power of His resurrected life and righteousness, His perfect finished work of Calvary, and His perfect, innocent blood offered on the mercy seat just for you.
Elihu turned God’s focus to Job and all Job had to do was turn his heart’s eyes upward and God began to reveal His life and power to Job. Then he began to minister it to Job.
That’s the solution to our problems. 1) Confess our complete and total inability and inadequacy. 2) Rest on His total ability and adequacy.
When I have finally worn myself out with looking for solutions and like a person who is going under for the third time I finally go to my Father and lay it all in His lap and ask Him to please give me what I need provided for me by Christ Jesus, my heart goes into a joyful rest and over and over I have come out of the darkness into glorious light with Christ ever so much more real and precious to me. I also came out realizing that nothing and no one, however precious they are to me, (husband, children, friends, church) can replace the treasure I have in this earthly vessel. His name is Christ.
“And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and the Lord gave rest round about.” (II Chron. 15:15)
Needing rest? Needing a problem solved? I pray I can be used by Him to take your weary hand and raise it to feel His touch. It will solve your problem--I give you His word on it!

Our prayers are an influence in our home...

No one can intercede for the man of God, pray for his protection from the "destroyer" or set the mood by prayer like we can. This is spiritual warfare, and the battle is on for our husbands, our home, our families...
"Happy the man, called to go forward in any pathway of faith, who has in his life-companion ony sympathy and help....frail in health and only twenty-eight years in age, Mrs. Taylor's... hands were full with the care of four young children, yet from the moment she learned of her husband's call to the great, the seemingly impossible task of evangelization of inland China she became in a new way his comfort and inspiration. Her hand wrote for him, her faith strengthened his own, her prayers undergirded the whole work and her practical experience and loving heart made her the Mother of the mission..." -Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret
"Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses." (Neh. 4:14)
Our families have souls, let's fight for them in prevailing prayer today!

Influence...

 As I've spent time with the Lord and also spent time with Christian friends for the last few months I have realized how very, very important influence is. 
  Again and again in the Bible we see examples of people who were influenced for the good or for the bad by who they were with.  The Lord told His people Israel not to take on the way of the heathen, but to cast them out.  He even told them to burn their idols and cast down their altars "lest thou be snared therein"... (Deut. 7:25)
  We see where David's son was influenced by a friend who was subtil.  That same friend had an influence in his death!
  We see Solomon's mother warning him of wrong influence, (Proverbs 31) we hear Solomon warning in the book of Proverbs of whose way we should follow and whose way will lead us into destruction of our life and soul. (almost every chapter!)
  Paul repeats again and again who to be with and who to avoid.  He even warns that only the spiritual should try to rescue those who have been snared into sin lest they fall along with them. (Gal. 6:1)
  Rather we want to admit it or not we are all influenced by who we spend time with, what we read, what we look at, or where we spend our time. 
  One of the greatest joys of my life is reconnecting with someone from years ago and seeing that they have remained strong in the faith.  What joy to find that they haven't dropped any convictions, and that although they have had to stand alone in many areas they are still remaining faithful to Christ.
  One of the greatest sorrows in my life has been watching people who you were sure would never lose the wonderful joy they had in Christ and in following Him as a peculiar people decide that they were wrong and reevalutating all those things that at one time they found their sweetest fellowship with Christ in. 
  It is usually obvious that things are not the same.  They've lost that excitment and joy on what Christ is doing in their lives.  They either avoid subjects or are argumentive about tenets of the faith that they once taught new Christians as very important to growing in grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
  As you listen to them you almost always find certain common denominators:

1)  False doctrine has slipped in somewhere.   Paul warned of this repeatedly.  He said it would happen.  Someone has come in with something that is so close to the truth it is difficult to tell that it's not the truth with just a little poison slipped in.  My dad used to say that just a little rat poison in your loaf of bread would still sicken or kill you! 
   If you're going to disobey the word of God and cease obeying the truth you have to replace it with something else.  I know there's nothing new under the sun, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that the doctrines that replace the truth almost always make salvation confusing with works added to it.
  I have found by experience that God's authority and His prescribed design are safety nets here.  If we seek the truth we find it, and the truth will always, always set us free.

2)  Someone has influenced them-- not Christ.  When you find extremes among God's people you will almost always find them following a person.  Rather it's extremes in being just like the world or extremes in being apart from the world when you really listen to people who've moved from the truth they have been influenced by a book, a preacher, a family, an internet site, a Bible college,  etc. 
   I like to ask people how much time they simply spend in the word of God each day seeking His face that they might submit their will, heart and mind to Christ. How much time are they searching for His heart and mind on every issue of their lives.  When you come before Him with a humble heart and a true desire to obey Him He makes it very clear what He desires. 
  Paul told those who wanted to follow him or Applos or Cephas that they weren't to pattern their life after a man, but after Christ.   (I Cor. 1:12-25)
  I know in my own life when I began to wander into the desert of depression I had listened to a false doctrine and other voices above my Saviour's.  It only led to confusion and spiritual darkness. 
  This goes back to authority.  Every human authority in my life is just that--human.  I have to have a deeper faith, one that goes back to trusting a very perfect God to lead my life by a human authority.  I must believe I can trust God--He will never influence me to sin.

3)  The direction of the life usually doesn't go to a purer and holier life, but to a life that is void of spiritual life.    In most lives you see great outward change.  There is a change in what they wear, where they feel comfortable going, what they call "godly music", etc.  This is outward manifestation of a deeper problem.
  With others the person becomes more extreme in their outward appearance and personal standards of life and practice.  They make more and more demands on what it requires to be right with God.  They have a "prescribed" list that grows and grows as they decide what is spiritual and what is not.  Many times you find them swallowing camels and straining at gnats.  This is because they are putting an emphasis on the flesh and not on the spirit of Christ.  Many times you find they have a root sin they've never gotten victory over and so other areas are overemphasised.  In both cases the root problem is not allowing Christ Himself be the authority. 
  Matthew 5-7 is Christ's discourse that makes it plain that God is a holy God with very high standards.  He also makes it clear that they are impossible in the power of the flesh.  When we attempt to carry out God's holiness in the power of the flesh it creates a very filthy, spiritually superior spirit.
  On the other hand, separation is from page 1 of the Bible to the last chapter.  God hates sin.  Sin destroys us.  When we ask Him to save us He starts a work of saving us of each and every thing that He cannot have as a holy God.  It's not that we aren't to live separated lives, it's that we are to live them by the power of the Spirit.
   I once saw an illustration showing white, gray, black and in that illustration were things listed that most Christians saw as definitely white, some that they saw as gray, and some most Christians saw as black.  Then it showed Christ as perfectly white and pure.  It showed the world in the lighter black and the church in the white.
  Then it showed the world going deeper and deeper into the black, and as it did the church was moving deeper and deeper from the white to the gray and almost to the black.  The problem?  The church was saying, "We're staying the same distance from the world as we always have!"
  But are we to compare ourselves among ourselves, or are we to have Christ as our goal?  If you keep your eyes on Christ as your comparison you will  live a purer and purer life as you grow.
  
When I think of my own life I think about what I have in my life that influences me.  Then I ask the question, "How does it influence me?" 
Am I influenced when I get a new seed catalog, beautiful Southern Lady magazine, or clothing catalog?  Yes.
Am I influenced when I watch a movie or read a book?  Yes.  I can name books that literally changed the course of my life and thinking.
 Am I influenced by the people I spend time with?  Yes.  I have people that leave me feeling like a limp rag from the emotional weight they pull out of you,  I have people that convict me, (but in a good way) and motivate me to do more for Christ, love Him more, spend more time with Him,  I have people that make me unhappy with who I am and where I am, (if I let them) I have people who energize me.  Yes, people influence me.
Am I influenced by my family?  My children can influence me to laugh, cry, and pray.  They can make me so proud I want to wave a flag and say "Hey everyone, that's my child." and they can shame me to where I would like to not answer when they say "Mom".  Yes, my family influences me.
Am I influenced by the word of God?  Yes, when I prayerfully get alone with the Lord in the word of God I can't believe what it does to me.  It's alive!  It permeates, cleanses, renews, and is engrafted into me.
  Am I influenced by what I listen to?  Obviously, if I'm having an overwhelming day my husband will say, "Why don't you go turn on your Christian radio station?"  I can go into a store playing rock and fully understand why teens get a gun and shoot someone after listening to it!  Why do you think bars don't play hymns?  I could name two men that told me their infidelity in their marriage started with listening to country music on a regular basis. 
  Am I influenced by what I wear?  You better believe it.  I have outfits that make me feel fat, frumpy and irritable just by glancing in the mirror.  I also have clothes that make me feel good about myself. I have clothes that say I'm going to be painting or in the garden, and I have clothes that make my kids say, "Where are you going today?"  Many times in my life my clothes have motivated the question from a complete stranger, "Where do you go to church?"  I always reply, "What makes you ask me that?"  It's what I wear!
    I can dress in a way that is suggestive, and I can dress in a way that is pure.  I can unbutton one more button and make an entirely different statement. I can make it slightly tighter and slightly higher up on my leg and I promise you my husband would say it wasn't going out the front door of this house.
   I can convince people I'm a businesswoman, a lover of country music, a motorcycle mama, going to lay on a beach or a street walker -by what I wear.  I mark every scripture that discusses clothing with a small picture of a garment.  There is no argument--clothing matters to God.
  Am I influenced by where I go?  Yes, I am.  I don't shop too much or I become covetous.  I don't go spend time in bars, certain stores, or in the wrong section of a book store because I don't want to be influenced in a wrong way.  I am careful with social networking because it has a powerful influence in my life.  I have been influenced by what I saw on a Facebook page to laugh till I cried, to say A-men out loud, and to weep like a baby at where that person's life has gone.
 I know this is long, but I've got a deep, deep burden for today's child of God.  I prayerfully ask you to turn to the Lord and yield yourself to His influence in your life  (Rom. 12:1,2) and then beg Him to make you an influence in someone else's life to turn them to a life of abiding in Christ.  There is no joy like the joy of the Lord Himself being your strength. 
  Influence.....who is yours and who are you influencing?

 
  

  Something the Lord has been really dealing with me about is giving Him each day at the beginning of my day.  I like living a planned life--"fail to plan, plan to fail" is one of my mantras.  I live by a list.  However, I also want the Lord Jesus to be the one who is my Way and I yield to His authority in ordering my day's path.
  A few months ago dear friends of ours who are missionaries to Australia called and told me they were going to be coming down I-40 on July 4th and would like to stop through.  Because of Gary's work schedule now I knew we wouldn't be going anywhere and told them to be sure and stop by.  Then it fell right out of my memory bank!
  Yesterday, they called to get directions to our house.  I had told them in the previous phone call that whatever we were doing or eating we would just include them in it.  But the Lord did have to remind me of my verse  "My soul,  wait thou only upon God ; for my expectation is from him." (Psalm 62:5)
 Not because I wasn't absolutely thrilled that we were going to see them, not because it wasn't a change in the right direction.  It was because I had "planned" to let the house go this week and rest (as I'd promised my husband I would do because of health reasons) and because I hadn't planned a special 4th of July dessert today because most of the family is on a diet. If you're a planner you know what I'm talking about. 
  The house wasn't filthy, it was picked up.  But I hadn't scrubbed bathrooms, mopped floors or polished the wood floors.  I hadn't dusted furniture this week.  I hadn't "planned" for company today!
  The kids pitched in a gave the floors a quick vaccum and sweep, John emptied trash and dusted, Cierra wiped down the bathrooms, Asher checked and swept porches and I mixed up some baked beans and Marble Toll House Squares.  By the time they arrived the Lord had changed my "expectations" to HIs and we were prepared.  I even remembered I had a frozen diet strawberry dessert that would pass as a 4th of July dessert in the freezer! 
  What a wonderful afternoon of catching up we had.  They have ten children and we have seven.  We looked at each others pictures, looked at our children's websites and listened to their music, saw their furlough dvd, and when it was time for them to leave I wasn't ready to let them leave.  After all the years we hadn't seen each other they were still faithfully serving the Lord, sticking to sound doctrine and principles of living and listening and talking was "iron sharpening iron".  I can't say how strengthening to your heart and faith it is to reconnect with people from your past who are sticking by the stuff and living as valiant men and women and not lowering the banner for the Lord.  I felt like I'd got a spiritual B-12 shot just spending time with them.
  Tonight as I write this I realize that because I am making a point to give each day to the Lord He made a point to give me a gift today.  I can't thank Him enough!
  As for that wonderful diet dessert.  I might have put this on my blog before--if I did you can skip this part.  This dessert is called Mile High Pie.  It is 3.5 points per serving if you cut it into 18 servings. 
  You will need a stand mixer to do this.  It would wear your arm out to do the 20-30 minute mixing and it might wear your mixer out!  It's a delicious summer dessert and fulfills the qualifications I have right now of "Don't use that oven one minute more than you have to!" -Gary Neal

Ingredients:

   Crumb Crust:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup light margarine
1/4 cup sugar

Filling:
3 egg whites
1 cup sugar
2 T. lemon juice
1 (10 oz.) frozen strawberries (partially thawed, may use canned fruit)
2 large envelopes of prepared Dream Whip topping. (Make ahead and refrigerate.)

Directions

Crust:
Mix crumb ingredients and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Stop and stir every 5 minutes. Reserve 1/3 cup of crumbs for topping. Let cool. Press remaining crumbs into 9x13 pan.

 

(Be sure and reserve that 1/3 cup to sprinkle on the top!)

 

(This is how high the egg whites, sugar, lemon juice and strawberries get in my professional Kitchenaid mixer bowl!)
Filling:
Beat the filling ingredients for 20-35 minutes until very stiff. (A good stand mixer will do it in about 20 minutes.) Gently fold in the prepared Dream Whip. (Do not overstir.)

(Don't forget to make the Dream Whip ahead of time and have it in your fridge to fold into your strawberry, sugar and egg white mixture.  I use Kroger brand Dream Whip and it works just as well and tastes just as good, but saves money!)

 

Pour into pan over crust and sprinkle crumbs on top. Freeze 12 hours. Serve frozen.

Number of Servings: 18

This is a very light, almost ice cream like dessert with a wonderful crunch on the bottom and on the top.  It's a favorite here!  To make it more holiday you could add some little flags all over the top!